Former Borno state governor Ali Modu Sheriff yesterday exchanged accusations with Senator Ahmed Zanna over who is sponsoring the Boko Haram sect between the two of them. Zanna had said on Sunday that Boko Haram commander Shuaibu Bama was not arrested in his house in Maiduguri as reported but at the nearby home of Sheriff, an allegation he repeated at a news conference in Abuja yesterday.
But a spokesman for Sheriff, Alhaji Umar Duhu, in a statement yesterday denied Zanna's accusations, saying they were "antics of a drowning man."
Addressing newsmen yesterday, Zanna blamed Sheriff for his travails.
"My historic defeat of Ali Modu Sheriff at the polls has not and will not go down well with many forces and individuals in this country for some time to come," he said.
"Sheriff is behind my present travails because the JTF has been taking directives from him more than anybody in this country. This is what I've seen because whenever he goes to Maiduguri, the paraphernalia he employs to welcome him cannot even be done to the president...The house where Shuaibu Bama was arrested belongs to Ali Modu Sheriff and they know it just as everybody else knows."
In his reaction on behalf of Sheriff, Duhu accused Zanna of sponsoring the Boko Haram sect, saying Zanna takes along some youths on a supposed religious voyage but ends up introducing them to terrorism. He said those youths were traced to terrorists' camps in Afghanistan and Syria.
"Being the second senator fingered as having links with Boko Haram, it is a confirmation of the wildly believed theory that the PDP in Borno State is the engine room behind Boko Haram," Duhu said.
Meanwhile, Zanna yesterday appeared before operatives of the State Security Services to answer questions in relation to the alleged capture of Shuaibu Bama at his house in Maiduguri on Thursday.
A source said Zanna was "interviewed" but could not confirm if he would stay overnight with the SSS or would be allowed to go home.
Attempts to get comments from SSS spokeswoman Marilyn Ogar failed because she could not be reached by telephone.
Daily Trust
they should interrogate that man very well o